Etymology

booty

boo·ty
B3O1O1T1Y4

Today it means: A form of prize which, when a ship was captured at sea, could be distributed at once. Full definition →

Middle English buty ← Old French butin ← Middle Low German bǖte
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booty · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Celtic · derived from*boudi“profit, gains; victory”
  2. Middle Low German · derived frombǖte“distribution, exchange, loot”
  3. Old French · derived frombutin
  4. Middle English · inherited frombuty
  5. English todaybooty

From Middle English buty, botye, bottyne, from Old French butin, botin, from Middle Low German bǖte (“distribution, exchange, loot”), of obscure origin, but related to Middle High German biute, German Beute (“booty”). Possibly ultimately from Proto-Celtic *boudi (“profit, gains; victory”). Sense perhaps influenced by boot (as in to boot).

booty · noun, adjective2

Probably an alteration of botty. Possibly influenced by booty (etymology 1).

booty · noun3

From boot.

Booty · proper noun4

Unexplained.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Celtic*boudi all →

Boudica

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.